NCC-1701A Strobes for Kenny.G

This is a prototype. A prototype. Not the final
product. So, its big and clunky. Clunky.
Clunkety Clunk Clunk.

I've been meaning to get this done months ago but never did have the chance. It was either no video cam, or no time, or missing battery or Kaelynn pulled some parts off ..... well, you get the picture. It was not until when I did Kal's BSG O2 sensor that I found it again. And so, here it is.

This is a circuit for the Polar Lights's 1/350 scale Star Trek Enterprise NCC-1701A model. Kenny did gave me a link to a website which I have lost it. But luckily, somehow, the timing for the strobes survived. Anyway, rather than leaving it in the prototype board, I decided to transfer and solder all the components into a stripboard for to prevent more complications. The board is just a prototype to demonstrate the blinking rate. And the big heatsink was for the voltage regulator, which during burn-in, was not even warm at all. What a waste of aluminium. Ha ha ha ha ha. Still, its only using 9volts. But if I was to pump in 12 volts, the heatsink might get warm. Might, because it has to do more work downgrading the voltage from 12volts to 9 volts.

The microprocessor cannot drive that many LEDs at once since its only able to sink in 25mA, which is just enough for one LED. I had to use a transistor to drive them instead. The model would require one or two more microprocessors for individual effects such as photon torpedoes, warp nacelles and also, maybe, for sound. But this circuit can be used by itself.

Anyway, here is the video:

And here is part of the circuit for those who are curious. Its very simple.

One chip, two transistors, one voltage regulator
and some LEDs. Add them all with solder and
bring to simmer for twenty minutes .........